Car Free Day road closures and public transport arrangements

Unmesh Desai: A resident in the City of London has been in touch with concerns about road closures in the City of London on the 22nd of September because of car free day. Please could you advise of which roads will be closed, whether residents will still be able to use their vehicles, and what public transport will be available to residents in the City of London affected by this?

The Mayor: Detailed information about the road closures in central London for Car Free Day was made available in advance on the Transport for London (TfL) website at tfl.gov.uk/car-free-day. Businesses and residents in the event area were also notified directly about how the planned road closures could affect them. Vehicle access for emergency services, including utilities, was maintained throughout the event area.
Stations within the event area continued to operate. However, several bus routes were affected by the road closures and this was also communicated on the TfL travel information website. Buses continued to operate on London Bridge and Bishopsgate to provide access to the event area.

TfL private hire consultation

Caroline Pidgeon: A year after TfL’s consultation ended on improving private hire safety what steps have been taken to improve public safety?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) will publish a report summarising the consultation responses and proposed next steps once it has given full consideration to the Department for Transport’s (DfT’s) response to the Task and Finish Group’s report on taxi and private hire licensing. The DfT’s response includes a consultation on statutory guidance for national minimum standards which is relevant to some of the proposals put forward in Transport for London’s ’Improving Safety in Private Hire Vehicles’ consultation and it may be the case that TfL will need to align some of its proposals with the Government’s guidance.

Improving Safety in PHVs' Consultation

Keith Prince: Will the Mayor acknowledge that the continued delay in releasing findings from the 'Improving Safety in PHVs' Consultation is likely to result in the failure to implement promises in his Taxi & Private Hire action plan before his mayoral term ends?

The Mayor: Please refer to my response to Mayor's Question 2019/17330.

PHV Licences (2)

Susan Hall: Can you clarify why there are background/good character requirements for both taxi and private hire driver licences, but no apparent equivalent for private hire vehicle licences?

The Mayor: Private hire vehicles are required to meet a range of licensing conditions and pass an annual licensing inspection, before being issued a licence, to ensure they are safe vehicles for carrying passengers. Full details of the vehicle licensing requirements can be found on Transport for London’s website: www.tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing/private-hire-driver-licence.

Taxi and Private Hire Trade (10)

David Kurten: To ask the Mayor if he supports the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association call for a limit on the number of minicabs operating in the capital?

The Mayor: Since I have been in office I have repeatedly called on Government to make legislative changes to allow Transport for London (TfL) to implement a cap on the number of private hire vehicles (PHVs) licensed in London.
The recent increase in ride-sharing apps has contributed to an unprecedented rise in the number of private hire drivers from 59,000 in 2009/10 to more than 106,000 today and the number of PHVs from 49,000 to 91,000. This has had adverse impacts for congestion and air quality in London.TfL is legally obliged to issue a licence to anyone that meets the criteria for licensing.
The Chairman’s recommendation in the Task and Finish Group on taxi and private hire vehicle licensing report (see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-licensing-recommendations-for-a-safer-and-more-robust-system) was to allow local licensing authorities, where a need is proven through a public interest test, to set a cap on the number of taxi and PHVs they license. The Government has expressed concerns about this recommendation, specifically regarding safety and restricting competition within the private hire market.
I urge the new ministerial team to reconsider this recommendation, which, along with controls on cross-border hiring, would help to ensure that our taxi and private hire industries offer an improved service for passengers that is safer.